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Perinatal anxiety and depression is a serious and common illness. Up to one in five expecting or new mothers and one in ten expecting or new fathers will experience it. The illness affects around 100,000 families across Australia every year.

Left untreated, perinatal anxiety and depression can have a devastating impact on parents, partners, baby and the rest of the family. In the worst cases, lives can even be put at risk.

To help raise awareness of the issue, 11-17 November has been designated as Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Awareness (PANDA) Week.

More than general ups and downsBeing pregnant or becoming a new parent can be both exciting and challenging. Having a degree of trouble adjusting to the changes that come with impending parenthood or the arrival of a new baby is natural.

Feeling a little ‘teary’, anxious or irritable for a few days in the weeks after the birth – often referred to as the ‘baby blues’ – is common, however, when a low mood or feelings of anxiousness start to cause concerns or stop an expecting or new parent from functioning normally for more than two weeks, they may be experiencing perinatal anxiety or depression.

What does perinatal mean?The term ‘perinatal’ refers to the period from the conception of a child through to the first year after birth.

‘Antenatal’ refers to the pregnancy period. ‘Postnatal’ refers to the first year after birth.

What’s the difference between anxiety and depression?In general terms anxiety refers to an aroused mood – panic, agitation, frustration or anger.

Depression is often associated with low mood, sadness, hopelessness or withdrawal.

Many expecting and new parents experience both anxiety and depression at the same time.

Talking about itPerinatal anxiety and depression is a serious health condition. It can affect any new or expecting parent and does not discriminate. It is nothing to be ashamed of, but many new mums and dads find it hard to talk about it.

Expecting and new parents telling others about their struggles, or admitting they need help and seeking treatment or advice is not a sign of weakness. It shows that they want the best for themselves and their family.

Recognising perinatal anxiety and depressionPerinatal anxiety and depression can be difficult to recognise for a whole range of reasons. Symptoms are often dismissed as normal parts of pregnancy or early parenthood. Shame and stigma can lead to a ‘mask of coping’. Symptoms can look different for each person.

Signs may include:

Feeling sad, low, or crying for no obvious reason

Persistent, generalised worry, often focused on fears for the health or wellbeing of your baby

There are also many other symptoms not listed here. If you or someone close to you experiences any symptoms or feelings that worry you for two weeks or more, please seek support.

Postnatal psychosisPostnatal psychosis is a rare but serious illness that affects one to two new mums in every 1000 and can put both mother and baby at risk. It almost always requires hospital admission. The symptoms often arrive suddenly and can include extreme mood swings, significant behaviour changes and loss of touch with reality.

If you suspect a new mum you know may have postnatal psychosis, you can:

take her to a doctor

take her to the nearest hospital emergency department

call PANDA’s National Helpline – 1300 726 306

Where to seek help for perinatal anxiety and depressionWe know that everyone experiences postnatal anxiety and depression differently. The best way for people who are struggling to start feeling better will depend on their own experience – what their symptoms are and how strongly they feel them.

What we do know is that the sooner people seek support, the sooner they can start feeling better.

It’s important for expecting and new parents who are worried about their emotional and mental wellbeing to seek support. They can speak with a trusted health professional such as a doctor or family health nurse, or call PANDA’s free National Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Helpline.

Returning to work after having a baby can be challenging enough without having to contend with the difficulties of pumping in the work place. I remember my experiences having to find a vacant meeting room that had enough obscurity to allow me to pump. The experience was never comfortable, either worrying someone would walk in at any moment or conscious of the whirring noise of the pump being audible from the meeting room. It was either that or my other option was to sit in my car in the staff car park trying to avoid the glances of passing by co-workers. It’s disappointing that a stigma still surrounds breastfeeding in the workplace, as reported in this article.

What are your experiences of pumping in the workplace and ideas for how pumping can be more accessible in the workplace?

Did you know that pumpkin can actually be good for breastfeeding? It's true: Everybody's favourite spooky squash has been shown to boost milk production in nursing mums. So why not take advantage of this little known fact and indulge in everything pumpkin? 'Tis the season, after all.

So why are pumpkins good for breastfeeding?

If you're a nursing or soon-to-be nursing mum, you probably know what the word galactagogue means — but just in case you don't, a galactagogue is something that promotes or increases your breast milk supply. And guess what food falls into the galactagogue category? Yep, pumpkin. As reported by The Digestible, a blog run by San Francisco State University's Nutrition and Dietetics program, pumpkin has been linked to an increase in milk production for nursing mums. Even pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas) can be a beneficial addition to the average breastfeeding mum's diet. Pumpkin seeds are also high in fibre and iron (important for nerve and brain cell development), with 28 grams of pumpkin seeds meeting half of the daily recommendation of iron for nursing mums.

Recent studies also point to the importance of having adequate zinc levels in your breast milk for healthy lactation. Why do babies need zinc? Firstly, zinc supports a healthy immune system and protects against common colds and infections. Zinc is great for baby's skin. It also aids in brain development. Zinc allows a baby's body to absorb other vital nutrients as well. Zinc can't be stored, so it is important that we keep eating it regularly to maintain our zinc levels.

Luckily, roasted pumpkin seeds are a quick and delicious way to make sure you're getting enough zinc in yours and baby's diet.

Here’s a great recipe for those who want some spice in life.

What You Need:

1 ½ cups raw pumpkin seeds

2-3 tsp Worcestershire sauce

A pinch of garlic salt

1 tbsp butter

Salt to taste

How To Make:

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C.

Mix all the ingredients well and place them well in a shallow baking dish.

Breastfeeding is amazing in so many ways. From the intense bond it can help you form with your baby in the first hours after birth, to the benefits it has on your baby’s health even into adulthood, there’s a reason breast milk is called “liquid gold.”

So, whether you’re on the fence about breastfeeding, need to remember why you started in the first place, or just want to feel good about your decision, we wanted to share 14 fascinating facts about breastfeeding and breast milk to keep you motivated.

Breastfeeding burns between 500-600 calories a day. That means some mums might end up losing weight without any additional exercise.

Breast milk is a living substance that contains live cells, including stem cells, which go on to become other body cell types like brain, heart, kidney, or bone tissue.

Breast milk also contains antibodies and live white blood cells that help your baby fight against infection. And, when you or your baby are sick, the amount of these cells in your breast milk increases.

Colostrum (your first milk) contains special proteins that coat your baby’s intestinal tract to protect from harmful bacteria right from the start.

Your brain releases the hormones prolactin and oxytocin during breastfeeding, which help you to bond with baby and ease those normal feelings of stress and anxiety.

The smell and taste of your breast milk changes depending on the foods you eat. Exposing your little one to more flavours during breastfeeding can lead them to be less picky eaters once you begin introducing solids.

And when your baby does start eating solids, you can use breast milk to replace cow’s milk in recipes.

Breast milk is not always white. It can be blue, green, yellow (ahem- gold!), pink, or orange depending what you eat or drink. Don’t worry, it’s OK for baby.

The amount of breast milk you are able to produce has nothing to do with your breast size. A mum with small breasts can have just as much (or more!) milk-making tissue as a mum with large breasts.

Your breast milk is constantly changing to meet the needs of your growing baby. From month-to-month, throughout the week, day-to-day, and even throughout a single feeding.

Mothers who breastfeed have a lower risk of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer, heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, and postpartum depression. And, the longer a woman breastfeeds in her lifetime, the more protection she receives.

Mums of preemies have breast milk with more protein, fat, and other minerals for bone and brain growth as well as the most protective factors to prevent illness and infection.

Premature babies fed more breast milk in the first 28 days of life have better brain development by the time their original birth date arrives, and see benefits to IQ and memory skills later in childhood.